Swansea property owner explains why, how and when he wants to cap defunct landfill

Sunday

Sep 9, 2012 at 12:01 AMSep 9, 2012 at 9:17 AM

When Paul LaFlamme attempted to put a solar array on top of the old landfill he’s owned for the last 27 years on Sears Farm Road, he learned that the landfill was uncapped.

Deborah Allard

When Paul LaFlamme attempted to put a solar array on top of the old landfill he’s owned for the last 27 years on Sears Farm Road, he learned that the landfill was uncapped.

Trees, one that’s about 75 feet tall, were a telltale sign that the landfill is not only uncapped, but may not have been capped properly when the landfill closed in 1982 or maintained thereafter.

Pat Hannon, an environmental consultant for LaFlamme, addressed the Planning Board Wednesday night about a project to cap the landfill. A public hearing will be held in the coming weeks.

Hannon said he and LaFlamme will propose capping the landfill with contaminated soil from construction sites. He said the landfill mound would be no higher than 100 feet. Some of the landfill is underground, Hannon said, and the visual elevation of the mound would increase by 46 feet.

If the plan is approved by the Department of Environmental Protection, LaFlamme would sign with a contractor who would truck in the soil. It could be as much as 100 loads per day, brought in by tractor trailer. Hannon said it’s possible that 33 trucks would come to the site three times a day. He said there could be times when no soil was delivered for days or a couple of weeks. It would depend on the construction project, he said.

The soil used for similar projects typically comes from construction sites and is tested for the amount of contamination. Generally, clean soil is then placed on top of the mound at the end of the project. The site is then maintained so that trees do not pierce the cap.

Planning Board Chairman Scott Adams said residents will have many questions about the type of soil to be used, traffic on Route 6 to the site, whether there will be a cost to the town and the elevation of the mound. Adams said people will be “cautious” about the project.

“In my eyes, it seems to have evolved into more of a landfill project (than a solar project),” he said. Hannon said LaFlamme, a Swansea resident, wants to do right by the town of Swansea. He said the project will be an “open book.”

“Paul wants to work with the town,” Hannon said. “We’re willing to do what needs to be done. Paul also wants to do what’s best for the environment.”

Hannon said LaFlamme started thinking about installing a solar array to get some revenue out of the property because his real estate taxes have soared to $25,000. Because the property was used as the town dump, it can’t be used for other business purposes.

In order to install solar panels, LaFlamme would first have to cap the landfill.

Hannon said the cost could be as high as $250,000 per acre. The cost to cap the 28-acre property could be as high as $7 million. The capped landfill would then have to be maintained, which could cost another $1 million over the next three decades.

Hannon said eight wells went into the site on Friday in order to conduct groundwater testing. He said results should be back in about a week.

The test results, according to Hannon, are the “smoking gun.”

“We don’t know what DEP is going to make us do out there,” Hannon said.

So far, Hannon said there are numerous contaminants on the site, including trash, waste, treatment plant sludge from Somerset and the Swansea Mall, septic, materials from illegal dumping, coal ash and possibly cyanide from coal gasification.

Hannon said not much will be known until groundwater testing concludes. He said, however, the landfill is not near the public water supply.

Hannon said LaFlamme has gone through multiple efforts to research the property and the proper way to have the landfill capped.

“He had no idea it was improperly capped,” Hannon said.

LaFlamme has hired a professional engineering firm, solid waste attorney, surveyors, a wetlands biologist, landfill capping contractor and other professionals.

“It’s been a bit of a daunting task,” Hannon said. “He pulled together a very good team.”

Hannon said what they know so far is that groundwater from the landfill site travels southeast and that several properties are downhill from the landfill.